#ThrowbackThursday. December 2011 Part 1

 

I've been doing ThrowbackThursdays  for a while but I noticed that I wrote a lot of reviews in a short time when I first started. One of my blogger friends always posts the reviews of one month but that would be too much. So, these are my reviews from the first part of December 2011.

Dorrestein, Renate "A Heart of Stone" (NL: Een hart van steen) - 1998

Ellen tells the story of her family, she grows up as one of five children and buys her parents' home when she is in her late thirties and pregnant herself. Through old family albums, she tries to understand the tragedy that happened to her family years ago.

Hesse, Karen "Letters From Rifka" - 1992

The story is told by Rifka, a Jewish girl who has to leave the Ukraine with her family to go to America. On the way, she gets sick and cannot go with the family but has to stay behind in Antwerp from where she writes letters to her cousin.
 

Tyler, Anne "Digging to America" - 2006

Two very different American families meet while adopting a Korean baby. One family are immigrants themselves, from Iran. The families become friends and start a tradition for both of them. 

Høeg, Peter "Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow" (DK: Frøken Smillas fornemmelse for sne) - 1992

Smilla is a native Greenlander, an Inuit who lives in Denmark. She is friends with a neighbour boy who is killed by a fall from the roof. It is declared an accident but Smilla doesn't' believe it and starts her own investigation. 

Streatfeild, Noel "Ballet Shoes" - 1936

Three adopted orphan girls take dance lessons. They all have different kind of talents and different kind of views, that makes the story interesting.

Read my original reviews, for the links click on the titles.

Top Ten Tuesday ~ Destination Titles

    

"Top Ten Tuesday" is an original feature/weekly meme created on the blog "The Broke and the Bookish". It was created because they are particularly fond of lists. It is now hosted by Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl.

Since I am just as fond of them as they are, I jump at the chance to share my lists with them! Have a look at their page, there are lots of other bloggers who share their lists here.

This week's topic is Destination Titles (titles with name of places in them. These places can be real or fiction!) 

I love geography, I love everything about seeing where something is and how the history of that place is, how it became what it is today. So, this is a brilliant topic for me.

Buruma, Ian "Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance" (NL: Dood van en gezonde roker) - 2006

Döblin, Alfred "Berlin Alexanderplatz" (GE: Berlin Alexanderplatz) - 1929

Dorling Kindersley "Brussels. Bruges, Ghent & Antwerp" - 2000

Hislop, Victoria "Cartes Postales from Greece" - 2016

Joyce, James "Dubliners" - 1905

McLain, Paula "The Paris Wife" - 2012

Mercier, Pascal "Night Train to Lisbon" (GE: Nachtzug nach Lissabon) - 2004

Pamuk, Orhan "Istanbul" (TK: İstanbul - Hatıralar ve Şehir) - 2003

Taylor, Andrew "The Ashes of London" - 2016

Zweig, Stefanie "Somewhere in Germany" - 1996

All great places to visit.

📚 Happy Reading! 📚

Barbal i Farré, Maria "Stone in a Landslide"

Barbal i Farré, Maria "Stone in a Landslide" (Catalan: Pedra de tartera) - 1985

I read another book by Maria Barbal before, "Campher" and when I saw this one, I just had to pick it up.

We have a great insight into the lives of the people in Catalonia at the beginning of the last century, how their lives were changed by the Spanish Civil War. Conxa tells us about her whole lifetime, from being a poor child given to relatives who didn't have any. I know this happened a lot in former times, people often had to many kids and then there were always those who didn't have any. Then one of the children from that family was given to relatives to "inherit" from them. I've heard this from my parents who knew quite a few examples in their youth.

While this is only a novella, the story is as rich as longer novels, there is so much in this. You almost have the feeling as if the author talks about her own life, even though she lived more than half a century later. But she must have heard a lot from her family, as we all did.

And it's not just about that part of our world or that time. War is awful at all times, and times were harsh anywhere (and still are for many, many people around the world). The author has a great eye for the people. And her style is extraordinary.

From the back cover:

"The beginning of the 20th century: 13-year-old Conxa has to leave her home village in the Pyrenees to work for her childless aunt. After years of hard labour, she finds love with Jaume - a love that will be thwarted by the Spanish Civil War. Approaching her own death, Conxa looks back on a life in which she has lost everything except her own indomitable spirit. This story presents a fascinating timeless voice, down to earth and full of human contradictory nuances. Its' the expression of someone who searches for understanding in a changing world but senses that ultimately there may be no such thing. The Catalan modern classic, first published in 1985, is now in its 50th edition, and has sold over 50 000 copies in the last two years in Germany alone."

#ThrowbackThursday. November 2011 Part 4

I've been doing ThrowbackThursdays  for a while but I noticed that I wrote a lot of reviews in a short time when I first started. One of my blogger friends always posts the reviews of one month but that would be too much. So, these are my reviews from the fourth part of November 2011.

Brecht, Bertolt "Life of Galileo" (GE: Das Leben des Galilei) - 1938

An epic play about the life of Galileo Galilei, his discoveries, his conflicts with the Catholic Church, his conflicts with himself and the rest of the world. 

Harris, Joanne "Chocolat" - 1999
I liked the move better than the book but it was so great that I have to mention this here..

Harris, Joanne "Coastliners" - 2002
There is a French village and a woman who returns there after having lived in Paris for ten years and is confronted with her past.

Hemingway, Ernest "The Old Man and the Sea" - 1952
An ageing fisherman who hits a stroke of bad luck, doesn't catch anything for ages, goes out to sea and catches the probably largest fish he has ever set eyes on. What follows is his struggle to bring the fish home. Alone. 

O'Dell, Scott "Island of the Blue Dolphins" - 1969
The Native American girl Karana ends up on a deserted island where she spends eighteen years alone. The story tells about her life, her struggles to survive.
There is also a follow-up: "Zia"

Read my original reviews, for the links click on the titles.

Herrndorf, Wolfgang "Why We Took the Car"

Herrndorf, Wolfgang "Why We Took the Car" (German: tschick) - 2010

My book club recommended this book to me; they had read it some time ago.

Two boys from different backgrounds but with a similar fate. And both outsiders.

I found the novel very entertaining, but also very compassionate. You could both laugh and cry at the experiences of the two.

What can I say, it was really a great reading experience.

From the back cover:

"A beautifully written, darkly funny coming-of-age story from an award-winning, bestselling German author

Mike Klingenberg isn’t exactly one of the cool kids at his school. For one, he doesn’t have many friends. (Okay, zero friends.) And everyone laughs when he has to read his essays out loud in class. And he’s never, ever invited to parties — especially not the party of the year, thrown by the gorgeous Tatiana.

Andrej Tschichatschow, aka Tschick (not even the teachers can pronounce his name), is new in school, and unpopular as well, but in a completely different way. He always looks like he’s just been in a fight, he sleeps through nearly every class, and his clothes are tragic.

But one day, out of the blue, Tschick shows up at Mike’s house. It turns out he wasn’t invited to Tatiana’s party either, and he’s ready to do something about it. Forget the popular kids — together, Mike and Tschick are heading out on a road trip across Germany. No parents, no map, no destination. Will they get hopelessly lost in the middle of nowhere? Probably. Will they make bad decisions, meet some crazy people, and get into trouble? Definitely. But will anyone ever call them boring again?

Not a chance."

Top 5 Tuesday ~ Baked Goods

Top Five Tuesday was originally created by Shanah @ Bionic Book Worm, but is now hosted by Meeghan @ Meeghan Reads. To participate, link your post back to Meeghan’s blog or leave a comment on her weekly post. I found this on Davida's Page @ The Chocolate Lady.

* * *

This week’s topic is a Freebie. Which means we have a topic of your choosing today!

It's the beginning of the baking season, so I thought I should post something with baked goods on the cover.

I have done Top Ten Books with Food on their Covers and Spell the Month in Books before but I have found some other titles that I would like to present to you today.

Collister, Linda; Berry, Mary; Hollywood, Paul "Great British Bake Off: How to Bake: The Perfect Victoria Sponge and Other Baking Secrets" - [kdÜ] - 2011
I love the Great British Bake Off and this was one of their first books.

Eggels, Elle "The House of the Seven Sisters" (NL: Het huis van de zeven zusters) - 1998
Seven orphaned sisters run a bakery. One of my favourite Dutch books about different kind of women who try to do their best, who try to live their life in a society that has a certain idea of how women should lead their lives.

Numeroff, Laura "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" - 1985
Brilliant children's book with beautiful illustrations. It teaches about consequences.

Scott, Mary "Tea and Biscuits" - 1961
The third book in the series by Mary Scott about the farmers' wives Susan and Larry. This was my favourite series in my youth.

Sponge, Miss Victoria "Scone with the Wind: Cakes and Bakes with a Literary Twist" - 2015
A combination of two things I really like: reading and baking. Bake your way through the classics.

* * *

🍰 Happy Reading! 🍰

📚 📚 📚

Spell the Month in Books ~ November

Reviews from the Stacks

I found this on one of the blogs I follow, Books are the New Black who found it at One Book More. It was originally created by Reviews from the Stacks, and the idea is to spell the month using the first letter of book titles

November: Food or Autumn Decorations on the Cover

I've done challenges with food on the cover before, but - of course - most of them don't help with the spelling of the month November. If you'd still like to see them, here is one:
Top Ten Books with Food on their Covers 

In order to get all the letters, I used books that had food or eating in the name of the title or in the picture on the cover. I also used a German book. I think I am allowed since I read books in many different languages, so I should benefit from that. I always have to think about the time my son was in the Boy Scouts (an English speaking group) and he got a patch for his German and other foreigners got patches for their language. One of the English speaking boys complained and said they had to take a test in order to get a patch like that. The Boy Scout leader said, okay, we can do the whole session in German or Danish, because that's what these boys do all the time, they use a foreign language in order to participate. There were no more words about that.

NOVEMBER

N
Bryson, Bill "Notes from a Small Island" - 1995
O

Robertson, Adele Crockett "The Orchard: A Memoir" - 1995

V
Nicoletti, Cara "Voracious: A Hungry Reader Cooks Her Way through Great Books" - 2015

E

Truss, Lynne "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" - 2005

M

Montasser, Thomas "Monsieur Jean und sein Gespür für Glück" [Monsieur Jean and his sense of luck] - 2015

B

Harris, Joanne "Blackberry Wine" - 2000

E

McCall Smith, Alexander "Espresso Tales" (44 Scotland Street #2) - 2005

R
Mo, Yan "Red Sorghum. A Novel of China" (Chinese: 红高粱家族 Hóng gāoliang jiāzú) - 1987

* * *

Happy Reading!

📚 📚 📚